相信大家上中学时英语课都学过''He
finally set up his own business.'' 这样的句子。set up这个词最常见的意思就是“建立、创建”。但大多数人对于set up合在一起写的setup好像却不太了解。今天我们一起来学习一下。
先来看一段美剧《老爸老妈浪漫史》S01E08的一个场景：
情境：Lily原先住的公寓变成了一家中餐馆，她只好搬到男朋友Marshall那儿一起住，Marshall shares the apartment
with his friend, Ted.（Marshall跟Ted一起住）。他们仨是多年的好朋友，第一次住在一个屋檐下，三人都很开心。早上，他们惬意地喝着咖啡。
Ted: Ah, this will be nice, the three of us
living together. I think it's a good setup.（这样的组合可真不错！）
(after taking a sip of coffee)
Ted: Man, this coffee's great. It's really
great. Too great.
（喝了一口咖啡，Ted隐约觉得不对，怎么今天的咖啡这么好喝？他那个叫Shocky的老咖啡机是又爱震又有锈味的啊！）
(Ted puts down his coffee cup, runs to
kitchen and sees a different coffeemaker)
Ted: What happened to Shocky?
(Ted notices Shocky in trash can and gasps)
(Ted carries new coffeemaker into living
room)
（Ted到厨房一看，自己的老咖啡机被扔在垃圾桶里！天呐！他拿着新咖啡机到客厅质问他们。）
Ted: What's this?
Lily: My coffeemaker from my apartment.
Makes great coffee, right? 我家里的咖啡机煮的咖啡不错吧。
Ted: Yeah, definitely. I mean, so does
Shocky.
（Marshall插话说早上用Shocky煮咖啡，还在睡的都能被它震醒。）
Ted: No. You gotta admit, that shock, wakes
you up in the morning
Marshall: You know what else wakes you up
in the morning? Coffee.
Ted: That's great. You're right. Roomies! I
love it.
最后Ted拿着咖啡机悻悻地回厨房了，刚刚还觉得''it's a good
setup''，转眼间因为自己的老咖啡机Shocky被Lily换掉，他瞬间觉得''They are edging me out.''（他们杯葛我）
setup也可以写作set-up，在剧中的意思是：the way something is
organized or arranged 整个计划/安排/组织
又如：
Instead of the usual/traditional
classroom setup, our desks were in a circle.
（我们把教室的布局变了一下，把课桌围成一圈。）
来看看setup其他意思：
1. a dishonest plan that is intended
to trick you陷阱（口语用法）
例：
How do you know this isn't a setup? （你怎么知道这不是陷阱？）
2. the act of organizing
something new, such as a business or a computer system （商业/电脑系统的）创建系统/组织
例：
Trained technicians can help with
installation and setup. （技术员有培训，他们会帮你安装好、把系统建好。）
What's the setup like in your company? （你们公司的结构是怎样的？）
I've only been here for a couple of weeks
and don't really know the setup.（我才刚来两周，还不大了解这里的组织结构。）
3. several pieces of equipment that work together in a
system 一套设备
例：
If you're serious about photography, you'll
need your own darkroom setup.（如果你想潜心摄影，你得有自己的暗室设备。）